Various types of binding elements have been utilized to bind a stack of perforated sheets or the like. Binding elements typically include a spine from which a plurality of fingers extends which may be assembled through perforations in a stack of sheets. This spine may be linear, with or without a longitudinally extending hinge. Alternately, the spine may be formed by sequential bending of a wire, as with wire comb or hanger type binding elements.
Examples of such binding elements which are of a wire comb or hanger-type design are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,112,389 to Trussell and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,832,370 and 4,873,858 to Jones, while machines for assembling such binders are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,585 to Adams, U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,856 to Archer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,117 to Jones, U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,890 to Flatt, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,489 to Bagroky. Other binding devices are disclosed, for example, in the following references: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,089,881 and 2,363,848 to Emmer, U.S. Pat. No. 2,435,848 to Schade, U.S. Pat. No. 2,466,451 to Liebman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,970 to Heusenkveld, U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,103 to Im, U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,159 to Amrich et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,013, Reexamination Certificate B1 4,369,013 and Re. 28,202 to Abildgaard et al. Machines for assembling plastic comb or finger binding elements are disclosed in patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,399 to Scharer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,211 to Vercillo, U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,859 to Nanos et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,312 to Hotkowski et al. The patents are included herein by reference.
Due to the structure of such binding devices, which include elongated spines and fingers, the binding devices commonly become entangled when stored in a group. Thus, mechanical binding processes are considered to be either cumbersome and labor intensive, or complicated and expensive, requiring dedicated machines. Detangling the binding elements in order to assemble the element to a stack of sheets or lay the element into a binding machine can be a tedious and potentially time consuming process. Further, this tendency to become entangled may complicate or prevent the use of such binding devices in automated binding processes or machines wherein an automated feed is desirable. The time required to manually feed binding elements into a machine would be prohibitive to efficient, high-volume automated binding operations.
Relatively low cost, manual, semi-automatic machines are commonly utilized in binding successive single documents by loading single elements by hand into such machines. In such manual arrangements, various issues present obstacles to efficient utilization. In such arrangements, one or more binding elements must be untangled from a box, exposing the operator to possible sharp corners and points, and then oriented and loaded by hand into a machine and/or another portion of the binding element.
Relatively high cost, automated machines likewise present challenges that have yet to be successfully overcome. For example, elements may be presented to automated machines in cassettes, which are typically formed of plastic, or attached to a backing with an adhesive or mechanical coupler. Such presentation methods result in excessive volumes of waste that must be stored and ultimately discarded. Additionally, the use of adhesive in such coupling can make the coupling vulnerable to atmospheric factors, causing the adhesive to loosen or lose its holding properties. Various other methods have been proposed for coupling binding elements together for packing, shipping, or feeding to an automated process. Such arrangements are disclosed, for example, in P.C.T. Application PCT/US0106362, filed Feb. 28, 2001, based upon U.S. Provisional Application 60/188,372, which likewise are assigned to the assignee of the present application and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. At least a portion of these arrangements have not been commonly utilized, however. While some types of binding elements may be preformed and delivered to the automated binding machine on spools, spools are generally quite large, bulky, weighty and cumbersome, and still require the use of separating paper to prevent tangling. Additionally, they typically require skilled operator set up. Accordingly, there still exists a need for alternate or additional arrangements that may be successfully and economically automated at a relatively low cost and with minimal associated waste.